Shane Black AMA: ‘The Predator’ Will Be Set in the Present Day, Robert Downey, Jr. Is the Man & More

Shane Black AMA: 'The Predator' Will Be Set in the Present Day, Robert Downey, Jr. Is the Man & More

“The Nice Guys” is out tomorrow, and writer/director Shane Black has taken to reddit to promote his latest film with an Ask Me Anything session. Black will next helm “The Predator,” which he calls a “new reimagining” of the franchise launched by John McTiernan in 1987. There’s no word yet on whether original star Arnold Schwarzenegger will reprise his role, though Black did reveal that the film will “be set in Present Day — which is to say, 2018; and so the futuristic events of ‘Predators’ have not yet occurred. We’re on earth, the time is now…”

On “rejuvenating” Robert Downey, Jr.’s career with “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”:

“Downey was the man. Period. Down-at-his-heels, previously uninsurable, the whole deal — fuck it. I trusted him. I was so right. That said, the movie tanked; but I’m still intensely proud of it, and so SO grateful for what Downey and Kilmer brought. Lightning in a bottle.”

On entering Marvel’s orbit with “Iron Man 3”:

“Marvel was an education and a half. I remember I was a bit headspun, early on, trying to find out how exactly I fit in, when Joss Whedon approached me. Sensing my distress, he said, ‘You don’t have to keep ahold of every moving part. Trust the machine.’ And so I took the cotton out of my ears, put it in my mouth, and proceeded to LEARN from the most efficient, well-oiled superhero delivery system in history. Everyone should be so lucky.”